A Birthday Gift
by TedTheDead
Summary: Sakura had celebrated so many of her daughter's birthdays with no one around but the two of them...how long until she just can't take another moment of loneliness?
1. Chapter 1

_I'm taking this as a little breather, you know, to flex my brain muscles or something. A lil bit of personal therapy, if you will. _

_I'm taking some liberties and going full child-of-divorce-seeking-the-impossible-ideal-and-__writing-a-romance-about-it let's GOOOOO_

* * *

God, the moon was really big, wasn't it? Its light cascaded over everything in sight, making the world outside seem vaguely unreal, as if it might all fade into a silvery mist if you touched it. Just looking at those thick, liquid shadows made you feel…tired.

Sakura felt so, so tired these days. Backbreaking labor and mind-numbing tedium, that's all each day could amount to half the time anymore.

Get up, get ready, make breakfast, go to work, stay late at work, somehow make it home before the moon got _too _high in the sky, make dinner, say the dishes will get washed tomorrow morning even though they won't be, fall asleep, wake up and start again.

Just like the instructions on her pathetically cheap bottle of strawberry shampoo:

Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

"Mama?"

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin, so surprised was she to hear another voice in her achingly empty bedroom.

"Yes, Sarada?"

Sarada was standing in the half-open doorway, dressed in the oversized black sweatshirt she liked to sleep in, a long curtain of tangled black hair covering most of her face. The hallway light caught on the corner of her glasses, and Sakura could see that they were foggy with tears and the heat of Sarada's cheeks.

Sakura's chest tightened and her shoulders sagged. She had thought, just maybe, it wouldn't have been this way this year…but here they were again.

Sakura pushed her hip off of the window she had been looking out of and slowly wandered over to the door, feeling just as tired and broken inside as her daughter looked. Sarada shouldered the door the rest of the way open and toppled over into Sakura's arms, sobbing.

Sakura picked Sarada up easily, cradling the nine-year-old in her arms as best as she could manage. She hummed softly as she brought Sarada over to her bed, settling Sarada down on the mattress. Sakura sat down next to her and wrapped both arms around her trembling shoulders.

"Mama, why won't he…just…just come home?" Sarada said, her words punctuated by hiccups and sniffles more often than not.

"I don't know, baby, but wherever he is, I know he's thinking of you," Sakura said soothingly as she stroked her fingers lightly through Sarada's hair.

"I don't think he even knows," Sarada said. Her voice was clipped, sharper and angrier now.

"Oh, Sarada, I'm sure he does-"

"Did Dad even send _you _anything for your birthday?"

Sakura stopped short, a sharp intake of air hissing past her teeth. Sarada's questions landed square in the gut, knocking all of the air out of her lungs.

The answer was no, no he hadn't. Three days since her thirty-first birthday and nothing, not a single word from the man whose last name she now paraded around in like an ill-fitting costume. And now, it was Sarada's birthday that had come and gone and still, Sasuke was just a cold ghost wandering their hallways. Unseen, unheard, unfelt.

Sarada started crying again when one minute and then two passed without Sakura answering. All she could do was hold her daughter tightly in her arms until Sarada fell asleep, watching every second tick closer to April 1st on her alarm clock.

* * *

It was like that almost every year. Sarada and Sakura, knowing to expect silence but hoping against hope for a single word, maybe even a visit. Just something to make it feel like they were supposed to be a family, not just leaves whirling past each other in the wind.

But it…just never came.

* * *

Sakura hustled her way into the bookstore, pink hair darkened to a dusky rose by the rain and drizzling water all over her shoulders. She tied it up above her head in an attempt to stop making such a mess, but still ended up with a cold river of rainwater drip-drip-dripping down the back of her neck and along her spine. Sakura did her best not to shiver.

Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around her as she stood in the middle of the birthday card aisle, searching for something she could bring home that hopefully wouldn't make a now 13-year-old Sarada roll her eyes and stomp back to her bedroom.

The twelve-hour shift Sakura had just finished was weighing heavily on her shoulders, and the light from the overhead fluorescents made her vision swim. All the cards started to swim in front of her, swirling into a blinding haze of glitter and neon pink that made Sakura want to hurl.

Another long year of silence, another cold and lonely birthday, another lopsided family photo with her suddenly outrageously grown-up daughter.

Sakura reached out blindly to the cards, hoping that her hand would land on something halfway decent.

"Ouch!"

Sakura hissed with pain as the pad of her index finger slid against the edge of the cardstock, slicing through her skin. She snapped her hand back and stuck the wounded finger into her mouth, sucking on the pearl of blood that bloomed there.

"Attack of the birthday monsters?"

Sakura whirled around, eyes wide and finger still in her mouth, to see Kakashi standing at the end of the aisle, as smiley and comforting as always. His hands were in his pockets, just as chill and unhurried as he'd ever been. Sakura couldn't help but feel a little jealous. But then again, maybe she shouldn't have. This late on a Saturday evening and he was in a tiny little bookstore, same as her.

Two lonely old losers in a bookstore on a Saturday night – Sakura hoped that wasn't as sad as it sounded in her head.

Sakura's shoulders relaxed and she dropped the finger from her mouth as she shrugged; she managed to completely miss the intense staredown Kakashi was having with her spit-slicked finger as it left her lips.

"She turns 13 tomorrow morning and I still don't have a card picked out. I'm definitely on track to win the Mother-of-the-Year award, don't you think?" Sakura said, tone oozing sarcasm all over the floor. She picked up the card that had cut her, sticking her tongue out at it childishly when she saw the tiny speck of blood at the very top of the creamy white cardstock. From a distance, it could have been mistaken for just another bright red blob in the colorful confetti pattern. Up close though, it just made Sakura feel even shittier.

She dropped the card back into its spot and sighed heavily. Sakura hung her head and rubbed her eyes with her fists, warding off the headache she could already feel coming.

"She's not even expecting anything at this point and I'm still going to ruin it-" Sakura stopped short, squeezing her eyes shut. She wouldn't cry, not here, not now, not in the middle of a store in front of her old sensei. God, but wouldn't that just be the perfect thing to top off another terrible birthday season? A little mental breakdown, right there in front of God and everyone?

Sakura's eyes popped back open in surprise when she felt a warm arm reach across her shoulders, and when she looked to her right, she could see Kakashi's hand patting her arm soothingly, albeit quite awkwardly, as if he wasn't exactly sure how to touch her.

"You won't ruin it, Sakura," Kakashi said calmly, like his arm wasn't curled so close around her neck that it made her cheeks flush. Sakura could only stare blankly as he reached forward to pick up another card, a simple one of lilac cardstock. Why did his arm feel so _hot? _Why didn't she want him to move?

"You can't choose one because she wouldn't like any of them," He said, dropping it back into place. Not moving his arm, Kakashi gently started to steer Sakura deeper into the bookstore. Specifically, to the nonfiction section.

"Sarada's gunning for Naruto's job, right? Try to give her a leg up on that and give the idiot a break."

Kakashi finally moved his arm then, giving Sakura a conspiratorial wink as he left her there in the aisle. Sakura couldn't even untwist her tongue to say goodbye, shocked into silence by the sudden coldness that enshrouded her, a cavernous cold that echoed off of the books surrounding her.

What was it that warmth had reminded her of?

What had it given her, and then so suddenly ripped away?

Oh yeah…

_Closeness._

* * *

_Yall idk I needed to try something else for a second. Let's see where this shit goes, I'm _

_intrigued. _


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm taking creative license with this one. Canon who? Where? I don't know her. _

* * *

When her alarm clock went off the next morning, Sakura pulverized the poor thing without ever even lifting her head from the pillow.

Sometimes Sakura cursed her chosen line of work, and the endless stream of early mornings it saddled her with. Really, 5 am? What reasonable person woke up that early?

Sakura rubbed her eyes with her fists and stared absently at the ceiling.

The windows were closed, the curtains still drawn. The room still felt as cold and as empty as ever.

Sakura started mentally preparing herself to tell Sarada that her father wouldn't be there to light any birthday candles. Again.

"Ugh."

Sakura sighed heavily and rolled out of bed. All of her joints sounded off like an army band, making her wince with embarrassment. Every time she turned around, it felt like the years had crept closer until they clawed at her neck.

She wandered over to her closet, pulling the door open and snagging her robe from its hook. Sakura tied it around her and began rifling through the piles of shoes at the bottom until she found the stiff paper bag she'd been looking for.

When Sakura brought it back over to her bad and dumped its contents over to the bedspread, she couldn't help but to smile.

She had taken Kakashi's sage advice – of course Sarada wouldn't be impressed with some flimsy, childish birthday card, no matter how many ryō she shoved inside. Instead, she had gotten Sarada a small stack of books. One unabridged history of the Hidden Leaf (it was a good thing Sakura had passed on Tsunade's teachings, Sarada would need that overzealous strength just to lift the damn thing), one leather-bound volume on tactical battle solutions, and a burgundy canvas journal small enough to fit in any standard shinobi supply pouch.

It wasn't much, but Sakura felt good about her choices. Kakashi had been right about another thing – Sarada was absolutely gunning for Naruto's job. And, secretly, Sakura had the sneaking suspicion that whenever that day came, Sarada would fare much better in such a bureaucratic position.

_Not that I would ever tell him that, _Sakura thought as she stacked the books into a neat pile, _his nepotism is the one thing I absolutely rely on to keep the hospital running. _

When Sakura was satisfied with the arrangement of the books, she picked them up and left her bedroom. She stopped in the kitchen to make coffee, even going so far as to make a cup for her daughter. Sarada was a kunoichi in training, so there weren't many adult things left for Sakura to show her. Bringing her her first cup of coffee would have to suffice.

Sakura made her way up the narrow staircase to Sarada's bedroom, a massive smile glowing on her face. She had been worried, before. But now, carrying the carefully chosen books and two precariously balanced cups of coffee, Sakura actually felt _excited _to spend the day with her daughter. Even as she slowly worked Sarada's door open with her foot, Sakura could just imagine the surprised look on Sarada's face to be getting books like this.

Unfortunately, the imagined look of surprise did absolutely nothing to surprise the expression of shock on Sakura's face when she looked through the open doorway to find a very neatly made, very _empty _twin bed.

The sound of two porcelain mugs shattering on the floor was nothing compared to Sakura's screech.

* * *

Sakura ran for the Hokage Tower in a dead sprint, kicking up clouds of dust as she tore through the Village streets. She saw Shikamaru, funky little goatee and all, waving at her as she ran, but she didn't return the favor.

Sakura didn't even stop to use the door like a civilized adult, instead opting to scale the side of the building and force her way in through an unlocked window.

When she was finally inside Naruto's office, hunched over with her hands on her knees and panting heavily, the lights were off and the air was still. Sakura threw up her hands and leaned her head back to scream at the ceiling in annoyance. He _would _be out of office the _one _time she really needed him to be there.

Mumbling various swears and the occasional curse upon his grave, Sakura went over to the form-littered desk. She sat in Naruto's seat with a huff and began banging on the keyboard, willing the computer to hurry the hell up and turn on so she could see what it was he had last been doing – she needed a hint to find him, and she needed Naruto's permission to leave the Village and find Sarada.

The screen blinked to life, a vibrantly orange rectangle of light with a tiny white box for a password.

Hinata?

_Click click click_

Nope. Jiraiya?

_Click click click_

Nope.

Sakura groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, her anger level rising with every "INCORRECT PASSWORD" error message that opened on screen.

She managed to refrain from screaming, and let her fingers come to rest again on the keys, poring over every mental detail to try and figure out Naruto's password. Damn, she relly should have brought Ino along, that woman always knew how to get into anything she so pleased.

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and typed with the other, just guessing blindly.

_Click click click _

"WELCOME BACK!"

Sakura's jaw actually dropped as the computer opened.

The idiot _really _made his password Ichiraku?

She'd address it later, before state secrets were scoured by someone much less trustworthy than she was. But at the moment, she was quite busy.

Sakura clicked around and opened the last few recently closed documents and began to skim, only looking for something to point her in the right direction.

After a few lines, however, Sakura's throat closed up and the sky crashed down around her shoulders. Two or three words jumped out at her in high relief, each individual pixel screaming a separate wail.

Something something UCHIHA SASUKE something something something RIDGE TOWER something.

Sakura stood abruptly, the chair flying back on its wheels and slamming into the wall behind her before toppling over to the floor. She clawed around in her pockets to yank out the pitiful, crumpled slip of paper she'd found on Sarada's pillow that morning.

_Mom, if that's who you are, I'm going to find Dad. _

_Goodbye._

* * *

Kakashi was ambling slowly down a side street, no real plan for the day in mind, when he first heard it. Loud, repetitive slamming sounds, and what sounded suspiciously like cracking earth.

Sounds like that usually only preceded one person.

Kakashi channeled chakra to his feet, gluing himself to the ground, and stuck his right arm out into the empty air.

Three…

Two…

One

_SLAM!_

Kakashi stumbled a bit, feet ripped from their places by sheer inertia, but his grip stayed firm.

"You seem like you're in a hurry."

The slim white arm in his hand flexed threateningly, and his eyes followed it up to the shoulder, the graceful throat, and finally to the wild-eyed face of Haruno Sakura.

"She's gone," Sakura said. Her voice was low, throaty, but the force behind it almost made Kakashi flinch.

"Who? Tsunade? She left for her vacation in the Land of the Moon two days ago, why-"

"Not Tsunade-shishou. Sarada."

Kakashi's fingers tightened around Sakura's bicep reflexively, and he forced himself to let go. A spark of anxiety sparked inside of his chest, one he could not name. Sarada was a genin, capable of watching after herself, but something in Sakura's voice made his instinct for concern flare dangerously high.

The second he let go, Sakura was moving again. Slower this time, but with no less purpose. Kakashi followed next to her, unable to tear himself away while that look of overwhelming distress clouded her features.

"Where did she go?" Kakashi asked. Without answering, Sakura's hand disappeared into her qipao and brought out a crumpled piece of yellow paper that was shoved unceremoniously in his direction. When he read it, Kakashi let out a long, slow whistle.

"…Do either of you know where he is?" Kakashi asked, treading carefully. Sasuke's long absences were a well-known sore spot, and Kakashi really didn't want to spend the next week nursing a dislocated limb.

"I got into Naruto's computer – don't even start with me, you had worse security than he does – and found out. Naruto's going to see him today," Sakura gritted her teeth, hard enough that Kakashi heard her jaw pop. "Sarada followed him. I just know it."

Kakashi passed the note back to Sakura and she shoved it back into her pocket.

"Mother's intuition, I assume."

Sakura said nothing, letting the words tumble into the dirt and be left behind. The silence hung around them as they approached the Village gates, and Kakashi wondered if this was the point at which he was supposed to leave her be, to let her handle her own issues with her husband and daughter. But…he didn't want to leave. Kakashi wanted to protect her, make sure things turned out okay. To save Sakura from pain. Maybe it was just habit, the leftovers of several years of being her captain.

Or maybe it was something more.

Kakashi shook his head as if he could knock that thought right out onto the ground.

Sakura stopped, suddenly enough that Kakashi took two full steps ahead of her before turning back around. When he did, she wasn't looking at him, but at the miles and miles of trees that stretched out beyond the open gate.

"Are you-"

"Kakashi," Sakura began. Her voice was so quiet that it was almost lost in the breeze, and Kakashi had to lean forward to hear each word. As he did, the smell of her skin washed over him, soft and warm like strawberry syrup.

"Kakashi, I know you grew up without a dad around. I don't…I don't know what she's going through. I don't know what to do."

Kakashi half-choked, standing up straight and fidgeting with his mask out of habit.

"I know it's not the same but…I just…I don't know how to do this on my own anymore. I _can't _do it on my own anymore."

This time, Sakura _was _looking at him. Her eyes were sparkling with tears, tears that ran down her cheeks like strings of diamonds and begged for Kakashi to wipe them away. His hand reached out and –

And fell on her shoulder to squeeze reassuringly.

"You're not on your own. You have me," Kakashii gulped thickly as those dazzling jade eyes came back up to connect with his," and Naruto, Tsunade, even the Yamanaka banshee. And, once we go get her, you'll have Sarada."

Sakura wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and offered a pitiful smile.

"So, you're coming with me?" Sakura asked in a very small voice.

"Consider it a Team Kakashi reunion trip."

Sakura finally smiled. A tiny, pathetic smile, far too sad to be the face of a mother on her only daughter's birthday. A tiny smile that Kakashi would kill to see.

"At least Sarada can see all of the Konoha legends in one place before I ground her until the end of time."


	3. Chapter 3

_Look…. I consider Boruto to be…optional. I have a very tentative grasp of what happens in canon. This is fanfiction. Embrace my creative allowances._

_Also, this story is a lot more demanding than I expected when I began this. I thought it would be a one-shot! Working in an emotional scope is different for me, and I want to do my best!_

* * *

Sakura's eyebrow was twitching with anger they farther along they got. She began picking up littered candy wrappers and crinkly chip bags, muttering darkly to herself as she shoved them in whatever free pockets she could find.

"Drags her little friend into it…leaves trash in the middle of the forest…never seeing the light of day again…" she grumbled, each shiny cellophane wrapper ticking another notch on the pressure gauge of Sakura's anger.

Kakashi snapped his little book closed and cleared his throat a bit too loudly.

"You alright over there?"

Sakura stopped in her tracks, lifting one arm to lean heavily against a tree. She considered the bark closely, picking away at it with her fingernails.

"Why would she do something like this, Kakashi? What could she possibly be trying to prove with a stunt like this? She ran away from the Village, from _me_, and brought her friend along as she followed the _Hokage _on a classified trip to meet a classified agent, who just so happens to be her _absent father? _What could she possibly achieve with this?" Sakura asked. Her hands whittled away at the bark, ripping it down to the rings and picking out each woody fiber with nervous fingers.

Kakashi sighed, walked around, and leaned heavily against that same tree. He pretended not to notice the feeling of her hands squirreling around so close to his elbow, nudging at the folds of his shirt in a way that magnetized every fraction of his focus.

"She's 13, Sakura, I really doubt she's thought that far ahead. She just wants to see her dad."

Kakashi drew in a deep, shaky breath and looked up into the trees, uncomfortable. Sakura peeked up through her lashes, sensing something was coming. She leaned in a little closer, unconsciously, and suddenly they were so much closer than either realized, in more ways than one.

"I knew I was never going to see my father again the moment I saw his hair sprawled across the ground like that. He would never…he didn't like to get dirty. He never would have laid on the floor like that. I knew that was the last time I would ever see him."

Kakashi paused, gulping.

Sakura made a sad noise in her throat, a pathetic sound that made both shinobi shift just that much closer for emotional support. Sakura's hand was now twiddling errantly with the fabric of Kakashi's sleeve, and she was worrying at her lip with those sharp little teeth as she looked up at him.

"Sarada has to live each day not knowing when she'll see her father next. She can't be sure, she never knows. Sarada is always wishing for something she knows she might never get, and she took the chance she had. To her, it's worth it, and you have to admit, Sakura, that even if she was irresponsible, you can't blame her for doing it. She deserves answers from him, she should be allowed to find them."

Kakashi now glanced back down at Sakura, and his breath caught painfully in the base of his throat. His gut and chest throbbed achingly.

Sakura was so close, squeezing his arm and looking up at him with those tender, sparkling eyes.

"I didn't know that about your father, Kakashi. I'm so sorry, I…" Sakura trailed off, blinking back tears.

Kakashi couldn't speak, only nod vaguely, as he was caught in those sweet, loving eyes.

A bird landed on a branch above them and sent a shower of pine needles raining down over their heads.

Sakura's eyes shifted slightly to the left, and Kakashi felt the heat flood his cheeks as her manicured nails disappeared to the side of his head. She deftly plucked a clump of needles from where they had landed in his hair. Kakashi felt her fingers brush against the shell of his ear, and it sent a bright ZING of electricity down his spine. Every hair on his body stood on end.

Sakura let the pine needles fall to the ground and smiled sadly.

"Thank you, Kakashi. For everything you've said."

When Sakura looked back up, she was smiling much more sweetly.

"Now, I really do need to find my baby girl."

* * *

Sarada was standing next to Naruto, fidgeting worriedly with a worn photo in her hands. Her thumb rubbed back and forth over a woman's face.

This photo was not an eventuality Sakura could ever have prepared for. Sakura could never have assumed that Sarada would find it, or that she would make the presumptions that all teenage girls in an identity crisis are likely to make.

Sarada felt so out of place in her home, she had left to find her father. The person at home felt so impersonal, Sarada was convinced that it must be a stranger.

This woman in the photo, she even had glasses! And she looked so badass. If Sarada held the photo up to the light just right and squinted hard enough, she could even make out a patchwork pattern of savage scars on one side of the redhead's body, just visible beyond the long sleeve and high collar, slithering their way up her throat like vines.

Now that, Sarada thought, was a badass. Much more like herself than her own frilly, pink-tinted "mother".

Sarada knew she wasn't born in the village. Sarada knew this redheaded woman was not from the Village either…and she desperately, desperately wanted to put two and two together. She needed it to be real, needed a fantasy life in a place somewhere a world away from her own broken family to become real.

The second the door cracked open, Sarada sucked in a sour breath and held it awkwardly. Next to her, Chō Chō crunched obliviously along on her chips, blissfully unbothered by the weight of this. Even Naruto was grinning cluelessly.

God, did no one understand?

Did they even care?

* * *

The tower came into view for Sakura and Kakashi just as its door opened. At this distance, Sakura couldn't see who stood there; Kakashi however, very much could, and the shift in his stance led her to make a very well-informed guess.

Sakura stopped and held her arm out across Kakashi's chest to make him stop too. Sakura's shoulders were rigid and tense as they watched, but she made no moves to approach the rag-tag group of shinobi across the clearing. Kakashi glanced over as if to ask a question, but Sakura shook her head and pressed a finger to her lips, shushing him.

"You're right. She deserves this," Sakura whispered in his ear, leaning in close so she couldn't be heard by the others. Kakashi pretended not to shiver.

Kakashi took a second to mentally pull himself back together, then turned his attention back to the tower entrance.

* * *

"Papa!"

Tears immediately began to well in Sarada's eyes when the door creaked open. In that tiny space, she saw _him, her dad!_

He looked older than she remembered. Sasuke's hair was longer, his clothes a little tighter. The dark circles under his eyes, though – they were the same as ever.

"Papa!"

Sarada threw herself through the crack in the door. It swung inward and slammed into the inside wall with a loud _BANG_, making the door rattle on its hinges.

She wrapped her arms around her father and squeezed, overwhelmed by a million emotions her barely teenaged mind couldn't yet identify. All she really realized, in that split moment between outdoors and in, was how awkward it felt to hug someone who had no intention of hugging you back.

Tears were beginning to soak into Sasuke's sleeve.

Sarada felt Sasuke's hand on her shoulder, _yes this is it he loves me he's going to keep me papa I love you, _and was shocked when he only pulled her away.

"Papa?"

Sarada felt a little silly. Childish, even. She'd repeated the same word three times now, crying the whole time, and in front of the Hokage to boot. Sarada looked up into her father's face, begging for something, _anything, _but-

He only looked confused.

"You brought children with you? Why?"

Even Naruto was shocked by that.

"Uhh…I mean, Sasuke, she's..." he trailed, glancing back and forth between Sarada and Sasuke. Sarada was staring down at the ground, her whole body tense and shaking. Her hands were curled into trembling, white-knuckled stones. Chō Chō was patting her on the shoulder, trying to wrestle something out of Sarada's clenched hand, but whatever it was ripped to pieces in her grip. The shredded photo paper fluttered to the ground in a blood-spotted pile of brightly colored shapes.

"You just have to tell him, Sara-"

"It doesn't matter, he doesn't care, no one CARES!"

Sarada threw her hands up and screamed the last word to the sky in an angry prayer. As she did, an unspeakable pain ripped through her brain, making her breath catch in her throat. Sarada made a funny choking noise and dropped to the ground like dead weight, clutching her face and crying.

* * *

Sometimes, maternal instinct outweighs personal choice.

Sakura was next to Kakashi one second, gone the next. Before he even realized she had moved, Sakura was two feet away from Sarada, crying out her daughter's name. Kakashi rushed to follow her.

Sakura dove to the ground and skidded the last few feet to Sarada's side on her knees.

"Sarada, Sarada, what's wrong? Let me-"

"NO!" Sarada screeched through clenched hands. "Just leave me alone!"

Sakura didn't know what to do with herself. So much was happening, all at once.

Kakashi squatted next to Sakura and Sarada, patting the woman reassuringly on the shoulder. He flicked his eyes from hers to Sasuke and back, tilting his head meaningfully. Sakura's eyes widened with something between anger and panic, begging for literally any other choice. Kakashi leveled his gaze and used his hand to push Sakura ever so slightly closer to the tower, insisting.

"I'll take care of Sarada, you don't need to worry."

Sakura shut her eyes, let out a deep breath, and stood.

Wow. He hadn't expected that one to work. Kakashi decided to try and not let that go to his head or anything.

Sakura's fists were on her hips and her feet were spread as she turned to face Sasuke as if preparing herself for battle. Which, in so many ways, she truly was.

This was a battle that would end with a casualty.


End file.
